Village on Preston Homeowners Association Preston Village Homeowners Association Board of Directors Fraud, Deception, Rigged Elections, Stolen Funds Dallas, Texas
Built in the mid-1980's, Preston Village (aka Village on Preston) is a condominium development in Far North Dallas just southwest of the intersection of Frankford Rd. and Preston Rd.
This condo development includes single-family detached zero lot line homes (Patio Homes) on the West side of Windflower Way and four-plex structures with carports on the East side of Windflower Way (Garden), as well as true single family homes built a little later ("Village X").?
This development is comprised of three separate homeowner associations:
- Garden Homes
- Patio Homes
- Village Ten
In 1992, owners in the Patio homes took total control by consolidating all three HOAs under a Master Association called Preston Village Master Association, Inc. Each entity, (Village, Garden, Patio, Village Ten, and the Master Association) has a set of documents, rules and regulations and bylaws.
Since 1992, the Board of Directors of the Master Association has been controlled by owners of the single family homes. Rarely have they allowed owners of the four-plex condos on the Board....for good reason.
By their design, upon taking control of each HOA via a "Master Assoctiation", most of the monthly dues are paid
to the Master Assoctiation that (in theory) pays all expenses according to a formula that is in favor of the Patio owners.
More importantly, the 1992 takeover by the Master Association allows the Board to commingle monthly and special assessments into one bank account. Of course, the greedy and power-hungry Board uses this to their own benefit by paying in full for all repairs to the Patio homes while slapping the Garden condos with repeated Special Assessments year after year.
Since most of the Board members have held onto their positions for many years through elections that do not follow the bylaws of the HOA (rigged), they continue to steal money from the other sub HOAs without fear of being caught.
In Texas, even the Atty General will not investigate HOAs....you must sue them to bring them to justice. Even when you sue, the HOA's insurance company covers any settlement.
Of course, insurance won't cover the HOA if the Board commits a crime!
Therefore, Preston Village HOA may not survive the multi-million dollar lawsuit now pending against it in Collin County District Court as of January 2013. If you are an owner in this HOA or looking to purchase a home here, you are urged to perform due diligence to protect yourself from the fraud and corruption.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
WS
United States of AmericaEx- HOA President Richard Fuchs is a Fraud! This HOA Board Needs to be Recalled!
#2Consumer Comment
Thu, December 13, 2012
I agree with this report and would like to add the following:
- After several unsuccessful attempts to levy a new Special Assessment on the Garden condos in this development, the Board deceived the homeowners to get an almost $500,000 "rehab" of the Garden condo's siding.
- This deception included sending out proxy ballots with a separate letter that stated the amount of the rehab was the same. However, even though many owners sent in Yes votes based upon the same price, the Board had actually added more than $100,000 to the total! Therefore, votes were cast without having adequate or correct information.
- This Special Assessment sales presentation was given by the President of the Preston Village HOA Board. Within one month of deceiving the owners, it was discovered that the President Richard Fuchs had transferred ownership of his condo to his son 3 days after taking office as President of the board.
- Rather than telling the truth to homeowners, the Board and their management company, Excel Association Management in Plano, TX, sent a letter to homeowners stating Richard Fuchs had transferred ownership to his son for "estate planning" purposes. What they neglected to say was that Richard Fuch's son is a well-known Wealth Manager in Austin, TX that would never recommend "transferring ownership" as a way to plan an estate.
Furthermore, the letter stated:
"Although the Associations Bylaws state that non-owners may serve on the Board of Directors, the Articles of Incorporation state that Board Members must be owners of record. Effective April 2, 2012, Richard Fuchs resigned from the Board of Directors. Richards resignation was occasioned by the need to avoid any conflict between the Bylaws and the Articles of Incorporation of the Association with regard to eligibility for the Board of Directors."
This is simply a blatant lie to the homeowners the Board is supposed to serve. Anyone with any knowledge of HOAs understands that the Articles of Incorporation mandate the initial Board of Directors must be members (owners) of the corporation. The Preston Village HOA bylaws, contrary to the letter sent to owners above, also state that candidates for the Board must be owners of record. Did the Board ever read the Bylaws? This letter to homeowners makes it clear that this Board of Directors either has not knowledge of the corporation they are in charge of or they are purposely deceiving the homeowners.
- After Richard Fuchs resigned before being recalled, two Garden condo residents were denied access to the ballots by Excel Management, who stated the vote was by "secret ballot".
Only after being threatened with legal action did Excel determine the vote was not, in fact, by secret ballot.
- Two Garden condos owners then recounted the ballots for this Special Assessment and discovered that the cote did not actually pass. This evidence was presented to the Board and the Board ignored the evidence.
- To add insult to injury, the Board neglected to tell homeowners that they planned on using a large portion of this Special Assessment to pad the Reserve account in order to apply for recertification by FHA!
- Once their deceitful application was rejected by the FHA due to inadequate reserves, they failed to notify homeowners that the development was rejected! Now owners cannot refinance and their buyers cannot use FHA financing!
This is just the tip of the iceberg with this HOA. I certainly warn anyone to stay away from this group of people determined to run this HOA into the ground.